A trans-identified male convicted of brutally murdering his wife has been quietly transferred to a women’s prison in California. Kier Anderson, 57, was 41 years old and a self-described “bisexual cross-dresser” when he was convicted in 2009 of strangling his wife after she attempted to leave the relationship.
On the night of February 27, 2006, Kier murdered his wife Jennifer by strangulation in the family’s Tahoe Park home. He then strung Jennifer up by the neck in their garage in an effort to make it seem as though his wife had committed suicide. This claim would later be unsuccessfully argued in court by his legal defense.
Leading up to her murder, Jennifer had been regularly seeing therapist Sharon Sausto, who would later testify in court proceedings that the woman had been struggling with depression stemming from her husband’s increasingly disturbed sexual demands.
Sausto said that Jennifer had revealed Kier had invited a male lover named Joel Steele to move into their marital home in 2006. At that time, Jennifer and Kier had two very young daughters, aged just 1 and 3 years old. But despite this, Kier wanted a “three-way relationship” and to satisfy his “bisexual wants and needs.”
Though Kier had been the one to invite Joel Steele into the home and encourage them to pursue a polyamorous lifestyle, he reportedly began expressing resentment towards his wife for interacting with the other man.
“It was a three-way relationship, and it wasn’t working out, according to her,” Sausto testified in court. “She said her husband was jealous of her and this other man.”
After Steele moved into their home on December 26, 2005, Jennifer began to develop a romantic interest in him, which made Kier “not very happy.” Jennifer told her mother she had fallen in love with Steele because he “treated her with respect, ” which was “something she had [not] experienced in marriage.”
According to court records, Kier, who had married his wife in 2000, was “disrespectful and condescending” throughout the course of their relationship. The jury was told that he would often put her down in front of others by remarking that her comments were “not appropriate.” He was also said to act “fatherly [and] domineering.”
The court record reveals that Jennifer was “very submissive” and would usually take the abuse without pushback, adding that Kier would “also ‘berat[e]’ her for ‘half an hour to 45 minutes’ at a time, while Jennifer would ‘just kind of g[e]t smaller and beaten down.'”
Yet the affair was short-lived, and after an “intense argument” with Kier the following month, Steele left the Anderson home.
In an effort to keep in touch, Jennifer emailed Steele on January 23, 2006, telling him that she was “unsure” about continuing her marriage. That evening, Kier attempted suicide, prompting Jennifer to contact emergency services.
A suicide note written by Kier read: “all men are bad on some level and… they all hurt women… But at least the feminine aspect can be generous, nurturing and kind… Please cut me down gently and lay me to rest in pink frosted lipstick. I want to look innocent. I’m not ashamed of wanting to be a girl. I am ashamed of being a man. I’m sorry I was such a terrible, cruel man. I hope Jennifer will find a good man. She deserves better than the likes of me. I’m sorry I hurt you, Sweetie.”
He signed the suicide note, “Kier (who hated being a man.)”
By the beginning of February, Jennifer confided to her mother that she was planning to leave Anderson, who she said had been “cruel too often,” in order to pursue a relationship with Steele.
On February 27, the last day Jennifer was seen alive, she had told a friend over lunch that she was planning to move in with Steele, and her friend recalled this was “the happiest [she] had seen [Jennifer] in a long time.”
During a police interview recorded on February 28, 2006, the day that Jennifer’s body was discovered hanging in the family’s garage, Kier admitted it had been his idea to allow the “bi-curious” Steele to move into their home, reported The Sacramento Bee.
He also confessed to law enforcement that Steele and Jennifer became closer, and that they “then started attacking my cross-dresser side,” a feminine alter-ego Kier had developed and named “Claire.”
Kier told investigators that he began to suffer a nervous breakdown, and “Claire just wasn’t there, she wasn’t part of me anymore, and I felt really empty.” He said at that point, he attempted to kill himself, after which Jennifer told him that she wanted to leave him.
On the night of the murder, Jennifer had been packing her belongings and preparing to move out.
In 2009, Kier was sentenced to an indeterminate prison sentence of 25-to-life. He appealed the sentence in 2011, but the petition for review was denied. Subsequent attempts to have his sentence reduced or reviewed were similarly dismissed.
While in prison, Kier launched a Facebook page inviting people to message him through JPay – a communication service for inmates in state institutions.
“My name is Kier Anderson, and as fate would have it, I am a personage of some controversy, sometimes unwittingly, sometimes by intent. I am intentionally a transgender woman, unwittingly serving 25 to Life in a mens’ prison managed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” Kier wrote in one of his only posts.
“In addition to gender studies, interpersonal dynamics, abolitionism, critical analysis of the criminal justice system, anti-[Prison Industrial Complex] activism, and exploring alternatives like the restorative justice movement, there are many more subjects that interest me. My primary identity has always been as a musician and artist, so the themes of my life’s work are bound to surface in my writing. Additionally, I bear sole responsibility for my half of an extremely fulfilling romantic relationship.’
Kier’s page has just over 170 “friends,” of which the vast majority are trans-identified males and self-described crossdressers.
When it is unknown when Kier was formally transferred into the female estate, the move is likely to have taken place after California’s SB-132 came into effect in January of 2021. Also known as the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, the bill formally established the right of inmates to be housed on the basis of gender identity in California.
After the law went into effect, 334 male inmates have requested transfer to a women’s prison, and 46 have been approved for transfer. According to Keep Prisons Single Sex USA, fully one-third of all male inmates who have requested such transfers were registered sex offenders.
However, the SB-132 transfer request figure only refers to males who are housed in a men’s prison and seek to be moved to a women’s prison. Biological males who are already legally recognized as “female” on their identification prior to being sentenced to incarceration are typically automatically sent to a women’s prison and thus do not need to request transfer.
In 2023, Kier appeared on prison news podcast Ear Hustle HQ in a special episode dedicated to transgender inmates whose lives were improved by SB-132. The episode, which does not provide any indication of the crime Kier was imprisoned for, was sponsored by Progressive Insurance.
Speaking to hosts Erlonne Woods and Nigel Poor, Kier states that he was initially sentenced to serve his time in San Quentin.
“I did not want to come out as trans because I feared that I would be raped or otherwise mistreated. I did not want to be exploited or used or abused or killed by the other inmates. And I didn’t want to be perceived as weak for being trans either,” he says.
The hosts lament that trans-identified males are being incarcerated at men’s prisons, but praise SB-132 for allowing inmates to be housed in the prison that “aligns with their gender identity.” Kier similarly expresses gratitude towards the government in California for passing the law.
“I was really surprised. I never dreamed that it could happen. But when I heard that not only was it possible but that it was going to happen, I immediately filed my paperwork. I wanted to be the first one on the bus,” he says. “I really didn’t know what to expect. What I was really looking forward to is being among women and having those role models. Not being trapped in male prison culture, which is a hard, cold environment.”
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